Well you will pleased to hear that I managed to beat my first target, which was to achieve my sponsorship target of £500 by some margin, funds raised currently stands at an astonishing £1237 of sponsorship pledges plus £216 of gift aid bringing in a grand total of £1453.

With that much support behind me how could I fail to deliver my promised 25 knots?

Well running the other way after a pretty sleepless night was n't really an option on Saturday morning when I was greeted with the news from my Weymouth resident pal Glen Keedy that 25 knots was certainly on the cards. Unfortunately it was the average forecast wind speed he was talking about and just to cheer me up, gusting into the thirties and in a direction that would create enough waves and chop to make a run across the water on a windsurfer a bit like trying to break a stallion in. Perfect for someone who rarely sails in strong winds and has had about 1 hour on the water since October.

So off I went down to Portland, Mike George a fellow Brog lake sailor helped me with board choice (a very small board in fact - one I have only sailed a handful of times), sail 5.8sqm twin cam, fin 32cm. Now despite my promise to use newer kit on this challenge, the board is about 12 years old and the sail probably 20....

Having walked around the corner to the rigging area, it was abundantly clear that everyone else has nice kit. Very nice NEW kit. So I feel like I have turned up for an F1 Grand Prix with a knackered Ford Escort. Put it like this, I don't think any of the others were ironing patches on to the batten pockets on their sails on Thursday night.

Still, I had paid my entry fee and I had a job to do and having rubbish kit and a frankly churning stomach was n't going to stop me.

So off I went on the first run, up and going, hooked in and instantly flying down towards the start gate of the 350m course. Lack of familiarity with my kit meant that my set up was n't the best and I kept getting bumped out of my harness as I went down the course as I bounced over waves, meaning that I had to take the full power of the sail on my arms for much of it. Having survived the first run intact I was at least buoyed (sorry) by the gps reading of 21 knots.

Back at the beach Glen and his daughter had arrived to witness the carnage so after a chat and a rest,( I can chat a lot if necessary), I set off again on the course, same problem, getting bounced out of the harness, but miraculously my rapidly tiring arms had managed to help me get to 24.8 knots. Great but Doh! so close.

So I thought I would give it another go, must have managed a bit more time in the harness on the third run and yes, managed to peak at 25.46 knots (which is 29.3 mph in real money). Well at least if my arms fell off at this point, I had hit my speed target.

Trudy, Ruby and Oliver then arrived for support after lunch with my hosts Glen & Helen and their children Emma and Jack.

The afternoon came and the wind shifted so the course changed to an energy sapping 1km run out into the roughest part of the harbour. Managed a few runs but could n't better the 25.46 knots- and as it turned out no-one else beat their morning speeds either.

Sunday's promised lighter winds did n't initially materialise, it was still blowing 30 knots at breakfast. Started to drop quickly though so big sails and boards were deployed, but again little chance of bettering Saturday morning's speeds for anyone so after a prize giving ceremony for the very worthy winning competitors it was time to pack up and head for home. 

No trophies for me but I felt like I had won anyway achieving my sole aim of hitting 25 knots. And, somehow, miraculously, I managed to avoid coming last in the actual competition as well....

A massive thanks to you for your support on something that mother nature made far more challenging than I could possibly have envisaged. 

My Pre-Challenge Story

Some of you may recall my last charity Windsurfing endeavour in 2010 in aid of Windsurfers for Cancer Research (W4CR) when I took part in the Sunrise to Sunset windsurf challenge. As well as starting at the un-Godly hour of 5.42am, I also managed my personal distance challenge which was to sail the equivalent of a channel crossing, going beyond that to cover 29 miles. Just to add to the challenge, I did this using fairly vintage equipment (and I include myself in that description). Thanks to very generous sponsors we made over £500 plus gift aid for the W4CR charity.

5 years on, I feel that another challenge is due and yes it involves Windsurfing and again is in aid of cancer research via W4CR which distributes donations to a number of well-known cancer related charities such as Cancer Research UK, Macmillan, Marie Curie and some lesser known but equally important ones too.  

This time however, the challenge is speed so I will be leaving the vintage windsurf equipment at home and using my newer kit (windsurfers in the know would probably still describe this as pretty vintage however…)

The location, Portland Harbour has a long association with speed sailing, having hosted an annual speed week since the 1970s which is attended by international Pro competitors and was the location for many world sail powered water speed record attempts. The harbour record on a Windsurfer is 38 knots.

My aim is to get to a more modest top speed of 25 knots (28.8mph) at a speed event organised for the ordinary Joe like me on ordinary recreational windsurfing gear. The event is hosted by the OTC based at the national sailing academy in Weymouth & Portland, which hosted the 2012 Olympic Sailing events.  

If you are wondering why a speed event might even represent a challenge for a keen windsurfer rather than a bit of a jolly then I will attempt to explain. Maximum speed involves sailing at an unnatural and fully out of control angle, relative to the wind direction. The automotive equivalent would be turning your car down the steepest, pot holed hill you could find, flooring the throttle and hoping that you could stay in control whilst dodging the potholes or for the skiers among you, just pointing your skis straight down a bumpy black run at the top of the mountain and hoping to get to the bottom in one piece. Get it wrong and its gonna hurt. In fact, since I have n’t windsurfed since October, its just gonna hurt anyway….Get it right and your “reward” is to go around again and try to go even faster and closer to the limit on the next run.

Despite the obvious newsworthy magnitude of my endeavours, corporate sponsors have thus far been lacking in commitment. Pukka Pies suggested that I eat a few more of their pies first, and whilst discussions with a major tyre manufacturer were more encouraging the penny dropped and they realised that the only rubber that would be involved was my wetsuit.

So I therefore invite my friends, family and colleagues to fill the void left by the corporate world in my quest for charity sponsorship. If you can spare 10 pence per knot then you are pretty safe in the knowledge that £2.50 will likely be your maximum outlay, £3.00 being very unlikely (I promise to switch off the GPS in the event that I need a ride back in a rescue boat).

In the event that the wind just does n’t blow sufficiently to get over 20 knots with sail power then I will also go for a top speed on my stand up paddle board (5 knots a possibility with a tailwind) as well and add it to my top sailing speed to get as close to 25 knots in total.

You have read this far, so please go on to hit the “donation” button, I’ll do my bit on the water and the people that can make a difference to cancer sufferers can get the funds they need to do what they do best.Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.